Songs of the Week: September 28 - October 04, 2026
“Darth Vapor” by La Force
It’s been a couple years since we last heard from La Force, the solo project of Ariel Engle, and now we have a brand new single with “Darth Vapor”
The dark and haunting track highlights Engle’s stunning vocals, and she says it “was born out of an improvised jam session in a small one-room studio in Montreal. I picked up a right-handed bass hanging on the wall and started playing it upside down, because I’m left-handed. I remember it all coming together at once — Liam [O’Neil] on some kind of rhythm-generating machine, and Thom Gill on a soft synth. Later, Liam and I shaped the raw take, and the theme emerged. The song is about excavation, consumption, and lust — both my own seemingly endless need to consume, and that of the world’s population. This endless want in the face of a finite world of resources."
Check out the video below, and keep an ear out for more new music as La Force promises a new album next year!
Kirk
“Private Lives” by Death From Above 1979
DFA is back! They’re celebrating their 25th anniversary of bandom by announcing their fifth LP, Private Lives, due out January 29th.
The first single and title track “Private Lives” is a rip-roaring vintage Death From Above song that I can picture crowds shouting back at them already.
The band says: “The song ‘Private Lives’ is a declaration of privacy in an era of overexposure. We are compelled, often by one another, to share our most intimate moments and quietest thoughts. To what end? More often than not, to be part of a cheap consumer feedback loop. Ultimately though, it’s just a ripping rock song with maniacal riffs!”
Can’t wait for more from the duo, but more excited to see that they’ll be heading back to Vancouver on March 26th at the Vogue!
Christine
“Getting Out Of Dodge” by Olivia Penalva
Appropriate song for today as I’ve got out of dodge and am camping for the last time this year!
But BC artist Olivia Penalva’s track “Getting Out Of Dodge” is about “finally choosing the unknown over the past”.
For her new album Exit Wound (which was released last month) hears Olivia pivoting from her traditional pop sound to more of a blend with folk, rock and adult contemporary.
Check the track out below!
Christine
“blocking a scene you can’t remember” by PISS
The new album from PISS comes out at the end of the month, and we’re getting another tease with their newest single.
“blocking a scene you can’t remember” is an intense slow burn about '“sexual abuse and its lasting impacts. The lyrics take the form of a monologue read by a girl in her room, rehearsing a long-overdue confrontation with a man from her past.”
This official video was co-directed by PISS front-person Tay Zantingh & Nushi Sharma, which you can watch below. And the new album you made me / skin on linen is out o October 30th.
Kirk
